Syria

• Turkey and Japan have joined 11 other countries in expelling Syrian diplomats in protest at Friday's massacre in Houla. Turkey warned that it, and the international community, would take "further measures" if crimes against humanity continued. Syria state media dismissed earlier expulsions as "unprecedented hysteria". Today the government expelled the Dutch charge d'affaires.

• Robert Mood, the head of the UN observer mission to Syria, said he was "deeply disturbed" by the discovery of 13 bodies with their hands tied in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Some had been shot in the head.

• The UN's human rights council will hold a special session on Friday to discuss the Houla massacre. The United States, Qatar, Turkey and the European Union led the push for the emergency debate. Meanwhile, the UN's security council is due to be briefed later today about Kofi Annan's talks with Bashar al-Assad.

• Thousands of terrified residents of Houla have fled to a nearby village, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Guardian journalist Martin Chulov says residents reported heavy shelling in Houla this afternoon.

• Russia and China have restated their opposition to forced regime change in Syria, underlining the diplomatic deadlock at the security council. There is speculation that efforts are being made to persuade Russia to back a call for the Assad regime to be referred to the international criminal court.

• The Syrian consul general in California, Hazem Chehabi, has announced his resignation from his post. Video has also emerged purporting to show a Syrian general announcing his defection in protest at the latest violence.

Bahrain

• Prominent activist Zainab al-Khawaja has been has been released after a month in jail for protesting at the Grand Prix. Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahrain's best-known political detainees, announced an end to his hunger strike earlier this week.

Egypt

• The two sons of ex-President Mubarak are to face a new trial, charged with insider dealing in connection with the sale of a bank (see 3.42pm).

4.41pm: Prominent Saudi religious scholar Ali al-Rubai has offered a $450,000 reward "to anyone who will take off the head of murderer Bashar al-Assad", according to the Emirates 24/7 website. He is said to have announced the reward via Twitter.

4.30pm:Tunisia: Judges have announced an open-ended strike in protest at the government's removal of 82 judges for corruption and ties to the previous regime, AP reports.

The judges called for the Justice Ministry to revoke its decision, describing the move as unjust and not giving those targeted a chance to defend themselves.

The ministry said on Sunday that the judges targeted were implicated in passing judgements to enrich family members of former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was overthrown last year.

4.21pm: Representatives of the Syrian opposition including the Syrian National Council, Kurdish National Council and the National Bloc have called for international intervention under Chapter VII of the UN charter. They also urged "countries supporting the regime" to end their support.

After meeting in Bulgaria they issued a four-point statement:

First: Declarations of condemnation from the international community are no longer sufficient to protect the Syrian people from the series of horrific crimes being committed daily by the regime, and therefore we urge the United Nations Security Council and the international community to take up their responsibilities and intervene immediately to protect the innocent population and end the crimes by the regime, through decisive and unequivocal resolutions under Chapter Seven.

Second: We call on our brothers in the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to stand up for the Syrian people and give, through all means possible, immediate humanitarian assistance to those rendered destitute at this difficult time.

Third: The Syrian regime remaining in power is leading to an escalation of risk to the country and to the region, thus confirming the need for the complete removal of the regime and its symbols. We urge the international community to support the Syrian people in achieving this goal as soon as possible.

Fourth: We appeal to those countries supporting the regime and to those countries that are wavering, we confirm that that the overthrow of the regime and the establishment of a democratic, pluralist state is a shared goal of all elements of the Syrian opposition, and we urge those countries to take a decisive position in support of the Blessed Revolution of the Syrian people and the achievement of its objectives.

In conclusion, the participants confirmed the necessity for a continuation of dialogue among all components of the opposition, for unification of its vision, strengthening of joint action and activation of the revolution, and the building of a rule-of-law state.

Asked by activists to express his opinion about the massacre he said: "I don't have an opinion I only deal in the facts."

3.42pm:Egypt: AP has more detail on the new charges brought against ex-President Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal:

A statement by the prosecutor-general's office carried on the official state news agency said the two, along with seven others, made millions of pounds in illicit gains from the sale of a bank.

The prosecutor's statement said Gamal has unlawfully made a profit of nearly 500m Egyptian pounds ($82m) from the sale of the Watani Bank and that his brother Alaa used insider information about the bank to reap an illegal profit of some 12m Egyptian pounds ($2m).

One of the seven men charged along with the Mubarak sons is the son of Mohammed Hassanein Heikal, Egypt's best known political writer and a longtime confidante of the late Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

A date for the trial has yet to be announced and the seven other people charged in the case have been released on bail but are banned from leaving the country.

3.07pm: The US Treasury is imposing sanctions on a key Syrian bank as it seeks to step up economic pressure on the Assad regime, AP reports.

The treasury says the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB) has been acting as a front for other Syrian financial institutions seeking to circumvent sanctions. The new penalties will prohibit the SIIB from engaging in transactions in the US and will freeze any assets under US jurisdiction.

The treasury says it will also host a meeting in Washington next week of the Friends of Syria working group on sanctions. The meeting, co-chaired by the US, Turkey and Qatar, will focus on ways to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime.

Even Moscow must slowly realize that a diplomatic solution, which Russia has insisted it wants, is no longer possible with Assad. Therefore, the only option is to force Assad to give up power. And only Moscow could do that.

And Die Welt says:

It is still not too late for a 'Yemeni solution,' which would involve the Assad clan stepping down in exchange for political exile. Some might find that dissatisfying because it would allow Assad to escape justice. But any other solution to the Syrian tragedy would cost a much greater price in bloodshed.

2.45pm:Egypt: The United Front – a coalition of leftist and liberal political forces which also includes defeated presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Khaled Ali – is to issue a document listing 12 actions that the country's next president should take to protect the revolution and ensure a civil state.

The group will be asking both presidential runoff candidates – Mohammed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq – to commit to the document, Ahram Online reports.

The document is not being released until later today but Ahram says:

It states that the contenders should announce their presidential team, which must be made up of a number of vice-presidents, before the run-off.

It also demands that the upcoming president start negotiations to form a new coalition government that will include women, youth and Christians as well as being representative of all Egypt's political forces. The name of the prime minister, the document added, must also be made public before the runoffs.

The document emphasised the right of the Egyptian people to resist and revolt should the next president not respect the 12 articles or in cases of constitutional, public freedom or human rights violations.

2.28pm: Syrian state media claims that an armed terrorist group has blown up an oil pipeline in eastern Deir Ezzor province, as more details emerge about the apparent execution of 13 people in the area.

Sana said this is the fifth time this year that "terrorists" have attacked pipelines in Syria.

Major-General Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the observer mission, said the corpses had been found with their hands tied behind their backs and signs that some had been shot in the head from close range.

"General Mood is deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act," a statement issued by the observer mission said. "He calls on all parties to exercise restraint and end the cycle of violence for the sake of Syria and the Syrian people."

Graphic unverified footage from Deir Ezzor showed the bodies of 13 men. All were bound behind their backs and face down on the tarmac. Some had blindfolds. [Warning: disturbing content].

2.02pm:Bahrain: The interior minister had a meeting today with Denis McDonough, the US deputy national security adviser. According to the interior ministry's website, McDonough "expressed thanks and appreciation of the dedication of His Excellency the minister to strengthen friendship ties between the two countries".

1.21pm:Egypt: The two sons of ex-president Hosni Mubarak are to face trial on charges of insider trading on the stock market, state television has reported.

The sons – Alaa and Gamal – are currently in jail, awaiting a verdict in the trial of their father, where they are also co-defendants.

12.59pm:Yemen: The post-Saleh transition is "largely on track", according to Jamal Benomar, the UN's special adviser – though there is still "a backdrop of serious security concerns, an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and many unresolved conflicts".

President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down last February after 33 years in power and more than a year of protests against his rule. He was replaced by his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, in a one-candidate election but Saleh's relatives and associates continue to hold key positions.

In a briefing to the security council, Benomar said:

Obstructionist moves to impede President Hadi's reorganisation and control of the military and security forces could derail Yemen's fragile transition process and could result in serious instability. All efforts must be made to keep the transition on track.

Benomar told the council a crucial test will be the national dialogue conference scheduled for next year.

The success or failure of the national dialogue is likely to make or break Yemen's transition ...

If it is well prepared and gains legitimacy in the eyes of all Yemeni constituencies as a forum for shaping the framework of Yemen's future, it could become an important vehicle for democratic empowerment and for creating a positive political dynamic in Yemen towards greater stability and security.

12.48pm: Russia has dismissed the expulsion of Syrian diplomats as counterproductive to the Annan plan.

Its foreign ministry tweets:

Given international efforts towards a settlement in Syria, some Western countries' decision to expel Syrian ambassadors is counterproductive

Syria

• Turkey and Japan have joined 11 other countries in expelling Syrian diplomats in protest at Friday's massacre in Houla. Turkey warned that it, and the international community, would take "further measures" if crimes against humanity continued. Syria state media dismissed earlier expulsions as "unprecedented hysteria". Today the government expelled the Dutch charge d'affaires.

• Robert Mood, the head of the UN observer mission to Syria, said he was "deeply disturbed" by the discovery of 13 bodies with their hands tied in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Some had been shot in the head.

• The UN's human rights council will hold a special session on Friday to discuss the Houla massacre. The United States, Qatar, Turkey and the European Union led the push for the emergency debate. Meanwhile, the UN's security council is due to be briefed later today about Kofi Annan's talks with Bashar al-Assad.

• Thousands of terrified residents of Houla have fled to a nearby village, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. After an aid mission to the area, a spokesman said: "People were worried, uncertain of their future and felt unsafe. Being freshly displaced from their homes, the people had almost nothing to sustain themselves."

• Russia and China have restated their opposition to forced regime change in Syria, underlining the diplomatic deadlock at the security council. There is speculation that efforts are being made to persuade Russia to back a call for the Assad regime to be referred to the international criminal court.

• The Syrian consul general in California, Hazem Chehabi, has announced his resignation from his post. Video has also emerged purporting to show a Syrian general announcing his defection in protest at the latest violence.

Bahrain

• Prominent activist Zainab al-Khawaja has been has been released after a month in jail for protesting at the Grand Prix. Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahrain's best-known political detainees, announced an end to his hunger strike earlier this week.

I am General Said Bakdash from the 18th tank battalion. I declare my defection from Bashar's criminal gangs to join the FSA. The regime has pushed things to their extreme limit by their crimes against our people

She was arrested last month while sitting in the middle of a road to protest against the Formula 1 Grand Prix which was about to be held in Bahrain.

Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, is currently in jail and being re-tried on charges of "plotting to overthrow the state". Earlier this week, he announced that he was ending a long-running hunger strike.

Here is a picture of Zainab al-Khawaja with her daughter, apparently taken after her release:

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11.37am: There are signs of another massacre in Syria, this time in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Robert Mood (pictured), the head of the UN observer mission to Syria, said 13 bodies were discovered in the area with their hands tied. Some had been shot in the head, Reuters quoted him saying.

"General Mood is deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act," a statement issued by the observer mission said. "He calls on all parties to exercise restraint and end the cycle of violence for the sake of Syria and the Syrian people."

11.17am: Syria is to expel the Dutch charge d'affaires, according to foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi.

Britain should seek to take active measures to isolate and discomfort the regime and, more importantly, to protect civilians.

The British government should take the most stringent action it can to cause economic pain to Mr Assad, his family ... and his officials.

It should investigate, without delay, the practicality of establishing safe havens on the border of Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, where civilians and opponents of the regime will be guaranteed protection from regime forces. These safe havens may require commitment of troops, artillery and air defences. The use of drones for surveillance over civilian areas should be examined. And if necessary the arming of rebels to enable them to resist the regime forces and to protect their own people should be contemplated, and soon.

The reality is that the killing in Syria will continue, and the threat to vital US interests across the Middle East will grow, until Mr Obama stops counting on the likes of Kofi Annan and Vladimir Putin to spare him from the responsibility that should be shouldered by a US president. The longer he waits, the greater the cost – in children's lives, among other things.

The most available and workable solution is tactical and materiel support for the anti-regime forces, delivered through neighbours such as Turkey or the Persian Gulf states.

Opponents say that would increase the violence, but violence in Syria will continue to escalate as long as the regime believes it can survive by force.

Others worry that radicals among the opposition will be empowered. But what will strengthen extremists the most is the failure of democratic nations to act and the entry of groups such as al-Qaida into the vacuum.

The New York Times says yesterday's mass expulsion of Syrian diplomats "was still short of the tougher diplomatic and economic sanctions needed to put real pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and his cronies".

The opposition's co-ordinating body, the Syrian National Council, is dominated by the hardline Muslim Brotherhood, which supports the imposition of sharia law. The council is strongly supported by armed jihadists on the ground who want to create an anti-western Islamic state in Syria.

These zealots have been provided with both arms and financial backing by the fundamentalist Muslim regimes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as both want to promote ultra-conservative Islamism across the region.

It is grotesque that our own foreign secretary thinks that we have a duty to take up the cause of these fanatics in Syria who have no interest in negotiation or democracy.

Hague is quite simply deluded if he thinks that we have anything to gain from intervention in the country.

The al-Ba'ath daily, the mouthpiece of Assad's Ba'ath party, said Syria won't be intimidated by such "violent rhythms" and would remain standing in front of such "ugly, bloody and dramatic shows." It added that "Syria will not tremble as they think."

The government's Al-Thawra newspaper also blasted the western decision, calling it an "escalation that aims to besiege Annan's plan and enflame a civil war."

The criticism came before Japan and Turkey became the latest countries to order Syrian diplomats to leave.

10.39am: Turkey has ordered all Syrian diplomats to leave with 72 hours, according to Reuters citing the Turkish foreign ministry.

As Syria's northern neighbour, and a former ally, this is the most significant expulsion so far.

By our count 13 countries have now expelled diplomats in the last 24 hours.

The Guardian's Martin Chulov says the expulsions will send out the wrong message to the Assad regime.

#Syria's likely take on diplo expulsions? West bluffing about intervention. Nothing to fear. Carry on lying & killing. #Houla

10.07am: Thousands of terrified residents of Houla have fled to a nearby village following Friday's massacre, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports after its team returned from an aid mission to the area.

A spokesman said:

Both ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) went to the Houla area yesterday. Specifically they went to Burj al-Qa'i village, where the team found some 5,000 displaced people, mostly women and children. Many are staying in schools, or with local families, or wherever they can find shelter.

People were worried, uncertain of their future and felt unsafe. Being freshly displaced from their homes, the people had almost nothing to sustain themselves.

He also gave details of the aid that was distributed:

The ICRC and the SARC provided them with with food parcels (rice, tuna cans, cooking oil, tea and more) and fresh vegetables (1/2 ton each of potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplants), bread, 800 mattresses to sleep on, 350 cans of baby milk, pampers, soap and candles.

In addition to this, water tanks were installed and filled with water in schools and other places where the displaced persons are taking shelter. Some medical items were also supplied.

9.44am: The UN's human rights council will hold a special session on Syria this Friday to discuss the Houla massacre, diplomats told Reuters.

The United States, Qatar, Turkey and the European Union led the push for the special session, which will be the fourth time Syria has been hauled before the UN rights body since unrest broke out in the country early last year.

"It's all materialising very quickly," said one official. "It's going to have huge support."

This brings the total of registered Syrian refugees in Jordan to more than 21,200 – though many others are unregistered. The paper says more than 115,000 Syrians have entered Jordan since March last year. Around half of those registered come from Homs and a quarter from Deraa near the Jordanian border.

The Jordan Times says:

The UNHCR [the UN's refugee agency] points to increased outreach efforts and the recent dispatch of a mobile office to the border city of Ramtha as the main reasons behind the rise in registrations, which officials acknowledge is unrepresentative of the total number of Syrians in need in Jordan ...

More Syrians are coming forward to register as refugees — a distinction that guarantees them various rights and privileges under international law — as part of a growing realisation among the burgeoning community that they will be unable to return to their homeland as soon as previously believed.

Syrians say they have decided to register in order to receive services such as cash assistance and greater access to healthcare and to receive priority status for resettlement to third party countries should the crisis in Syria devolve into civil war.

9.15am: Compare and contrast Annan's own account of his meeting with Assad and how the state news agency Sana reported the talks.

Annan urged both sides to lay down arms, but urged the Syrian government to take the lead in ending the violence.

When you look at the situation on the ground, in reality you have several actors and people on the ground. We have the Government forces, we have the opposition armed groups and there are terrorist activities which we all see. But I think, we believe, that to bring peace to Syria the government and the opposition armed forces and whoever is fighting on the other side – yesterday I used a phrase that when we talk of peace, we are not giving a message of peace only to the government side or to the armed opposition; it is to everyone with a gun. Everyone with a gun must understand that the people of Syria want peace and eventually we will need to find a political way out without our guns. But the way the six-point plan is elaborated, indicates that we see two sides. And we have asked the government, as a bigger partner, as a more responsible party, to take certain bold steps to be able to encourage confidence and momentum for the others. That was the basis of the six-point plan and we are encouraging its implementation.

The meeting also discussed means for overcoming obstacles hindering Annan's plan, particularly the escalating terrorism in some Syrian areas.

President al-Assad pointed out that the armed terrorist groups escalated their terrorist acts noticeably as of late in various areas across Syria, committing murder and abduction against Syrian citizens in addition to robberies and targeting public and private properties with arson and vandalism.

He stressed the need for the countries who are financing, arming and harbouring the terrorist groups to commit to Annan's plan, and that these countries' political will to participate in stopping terrorism must be put to the test.

President al-Assad affirmed to Annan that the success of his plan depends on stopping weapon smuggling and curbing terrorism and those who support it.

There will likely be a renewed push at the security council for imposing sanctions on Syrian officials believed to be responsible for this massacre. There will also likely be a push to have the ICC investigate crimes in Syria. For either measures to pass require that Russia either support or abstain from the resolution. The big question is whether or not the Houla massacre has changed Moscow's calculations over weather or not to stand by its man in Damascus.

The moment that Russia backs sanctions or an ICC referral is the moment that Assad loses his most powerful foreign ally. We will know fairly soon.

8.49am: Russia and China have underlined divisions in the security council by restating their opposition to any attempts at military action against Syria.

Russia is categorically opposed to military intervention in Syria and believes it would be premature for the UN security council to consider new measures at present, the Interfax news agency has cited deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

Japan has ordered the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence in that country against civilians.

Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Genba, said the order was made on Wednesday.

Yesterday the United States joined Australia, Canada, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain to expel Syrian embassy staff. The Guardian has a guide to the expulsions here.

8.17am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. The UN security council is to be briefed on Kofi Annan's meeting with President Bashar al-Assad as the international community considers its next move on the crisis.

[Some] of the victims had been killed by artillery shells, now that points ever so clearly to the responsibility of the government. Only the government has heavy weapons, has tanks, has howitzers. But there are also victims from individual weapons, victims from knife wounds and that of course is less clear but probably points the way to the [pro-Assad] shabihas, the local militia.

It was in his interest to avoid any atrocity that would draw international attention. It is a measure of the lack of effective decision-making within the regime that they could not restrain their own forces. "Within the regime, there are divisions between the civilians, military and security," believes one commentator in Damascus. "There is not a single authority ruling the state but clusters of authority within the leadership."

To Syria hawks, like Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham, the solution to the crisis is simple: an American and Nato-led air war against Assad. But, at the Nato summit in Chicago last week, there was no support for the idea. Proponents of intervention like to point out that Obama's Permanent Representative to Nato, Ivo Daalder, was the co-author of a piece in Foreign Affairs which said that the "victory" in Libya should serve as a model for future interventions to prevent atrocity and support positive political change. But none of the conditions that worked to Nato advantage in Libya – its geographical and political self-containment, Qaddafi's abandonment, the efficacy of the opposition forces, the ease of executing the mission from the air – pertain in Syria. Instead, the situation has all the makings of just the sort of quagmire that NATO is impatient to get out of.